Necking machine



I. A. STOCK.

NECKING MACHINE.

APPLICATION FILED MAY 14 1921.

Patented Aug. 8, 1922.

JULIUS A. STOCK, OE CICEBO, ILLINOIS, A. SIGNOR TO C. RITCHIE & CQ MyA OF I CHICAGO, ILLINOIS, A CORPORATION OF ILLINOIS.

NECKING MACHINE.

ilfll25,2@4l.

Application filed May 14,

are adapted to be applied, whereby the em terior of the receptacle, such as a cylindrical can. presents a comparatively smooth surface well fitted to have a'paper or'other suitable covering or label pasted thereon.

The present invention pertains to improvements in mechanisms for forming such necks on the container bodies by compressing or contracting the walls of the lattor into slightly smaller din'iensions, whereby to provide simple and convenient means over which the flanged caps or covers are designed to have their'rims lit.

it is one aim of the invention to supply a mechanism capable of performing the function specified which is effective in the work performed which. is of compact struc-- tare, composed of relatively few co-acting elements, which issim'p'le in construction, and which is comparatively economical to v manufacture.-

In the accompanying or associated drawing forminga part of this specification I have illustrated in fragmentary way a portion only of a desirable embodiment of the invention and in such drawing Figure .l is a partial section and partial elevation of a portion only of the improved mechanism; and

Figure is a transverse section on line of Figure 1. v

Inasmuch however, as two end portions of the mechanism are alike except that their construction is reversed, and since other portions of the iachine areof wellknown constructio-m the fragment of the whole methanism shown in the drawing will suff free for a full understanding of the invention both from structuraland functional sta-ndpointsby those skilled in this art.

In this particular embodiment of the in rention the appliance is designed to sirnul- Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented'au x 8, 1922.

1921. Serial No. 469,741

taneously or coincidentally form neck-s on both of the opposite ends of a cylindrical tabular element constituting the main body of the can or container and designed after being supplied with such necks to be fitted withcaps applied over such necks.

in the present drawing the means for providing one/neck onlyhas been shown but it is to be understood that the other or companion neck is formed on the opposite end of the tube at the same time and by similar means.

The mechanism for carrying out the necking or wall-contracting operation comprises the following cooperating instrumentalitie's.

A suitably-shaped frame 10 is provided at its upper part with a pair of aligned bearings Hand 12 slidingly accommodating a horizontal, reciprocatory, hollow sleeve 13, slidingly'mounted in which is a smaller, hollow sleeve 14, in which in turn is a round rod or shaft 15.

Such outer sleeve or tubular member 13 is of cup shape at one end at 16 and such cup by means of a plurality of screws 17 has a ring die 18 mounted therein, and bevelled slightly at its mouth, such die be ing adapted during the inward or righthand travel of its hollow shaft 13 to be applied over the end of the pasteboard or other tubular body 19 and contract the terminal portion'of the same into a neck 20 of less diameter than the tubular eleient. A

This sleeve and its die are reciprocated by means of a yoke 21 straddling and pivotall'y connected to the sleeve at 22, such yoke being fixed on a shaft 23 ro-ckingly mounted crosswise in bearings in the frame 10.

A convenient way of connecting the yoke to the sleeve is to mount a rectangular block pivotally on eachsideof the sleeve and provide each of such blocks with a sliding bearingin the corresponding arm of-the yoke.

Such a simple and appropriate construction permits a proper movement or play of the parts whereby the oscillatory travel of the yoke is translated into reciprocating movements of the sleeve and the elements mounted on the latter.

arm 24; is keyed onjshaft 23' and its end is connected to the lower portion of the frame at 25 by a toggle composedof the two links 26 and 27 and their knuckle-pin 28 the latter passing through a hole or bearing in an arm 29 bifurcated at 30, -31 to receive a drive-shaft 32 and equipped with a roller 33 travelling in the cam groove 34' of a suit able cam mounted on the shaft 32 which is revolved in any approved manner from a source of power not shown.

/ When the toggle is straightening out during the travel of element 29 to the left as the parts are viewed in the drawing, the sleeve 13 and its die ring 18 are moving toward the right and performing the neck producing operation. l

on the other hand, when the toggle is collapsing and the member 29 is moving toward the right, the sleeve anddie are sliding to the left into inoperative position.

,The inner sleeve or hollow shaft 14 is reciprocated by means of a bell-crank 35 fulcrumed at 36 on a standard 37 mounted on the base of the main frame, the upright arm of the bell-crank at its top forked end hav ing a pivotal connection at 38 with the sleeve, similar to that at 22, the other arm of the right-angle lever 35 carrying a roller 39 in a cam groove 40 of a cam on shaft 32.

Insimilar manner, the inner solid shaft or rod 15 is operated by another bell-crank 41 fulcrumed co-axially with the other bellcrank and having a slot and pin connection 42 with the protruding end portion of the shaft, one arm of the angle-lever or bellcrank being providedwith a roller 43 in a properly-shaped cam-groove 44 of a cam on drive-shaft 32, I

A radially-grooved disc or plunger 45 is mounted on a threaded reduced-diameter end portion of sleeve 14 and'each of such grooves or radially-disposed channels 46 ac commodates a coil expansion spring 47 bearling at one end on the outer wall of the groove and at its other end pressing against a rectangular lug 48 in the groove and. forming part of one of the four sectors 49 unitedly or conjointly constituting an expansi-ble and contractible substantially-cylindrical die, each section or sector of which is mounted and radially movable on the disc 45 by reason of a screw and slot connection 50 therewith.

The outer curved edges of such several companion or correlated sectors are bevelled as is clearly illustrated to facilitate their" entrance, and that of the member 45, into the open end of the tubular body 19, and

the inner edges of suchsectors are bevelled.

' to cooperate with a frusto-conical member 51 mounted on the adjacent, screw-threaded nend of shaft 15, whereby such tapered element by sliding axially. relatively to the sectors is adapted to expand thelatter, their contraction, when permitted by the conical member, being automatically brought about by the action of springs 47 Shaft 52, intermittently rotated step by tubes one by one from a suitable source of supply and brings them individually in sequence into register with the two aligned neck-forming mechanisms of the machine of which only one is shown, such conveyer discharging the necked tubes in any approved or usualmanner. y

Assuming that one such tubular element 19has been thus carried into position for the necking operation, the cylindrical plunger 45 with the sectors 49 contracted enters the. open end of the tube by reason of the sliding of the sleeve 14 and shaft 15', the bevelled face or outer edge of the sectional. disc composed of a plurality of sectors facilitating such entranceof the parts into the tube.

When the plunger reaches its correctposi tion in'the tube, as indicated in the drawing, itsmovement and that of its sleeve cease by reason of the shape of the cam groove 40, but. the shaft 15 continues its travel somewhat farther occasioning theexpansion of the sectors against the action of their springs 47 due to the movement of the conical member relatively thereto. l

Thereupon, the sleeve 13 slides to the right forcing its ring die 18 over the outer face of the tube and contracting it or reducing its diameter between itself and the internal plunger 45. I

The expanded sectional disc, composed of the several sectors 49 being of substantially the same diameter as the interior of'the unnecked tube, that is of somewhat greater diameter than the contiguous plunger or'internal die member 45, assures the provision of a suitable abrupt shoulder between the base of the neck and the adjacent body portion of the tube. I

The necks having been formed in this manner at the same time on bothends of the tubular body, the two external dies 18 simultaneously recede while the tube is maintained against longitudinal displacement by the internal members 45and 19 andthereupon the sectors contract by reason of the withdrawal of the cone member 15 into a cavity in the end of sleeve 14, whereupon the sleeve 14 and its associated elements against longitudinal movement during the contracting action of the die 18 on the tube, whereby to take thestrain ofl of the'operating mechanism for such sleeve, and accordingly .means have been provided in the mechanism shown for reaching this result.

'zontal plate 60 having a longitudi i izcntal slot 61 and an upstanding rib is mounted by means of screws 63, 63 on the bearings 11 and 1.2, such rib being equipped with a pair of straps or bent bars 64, 64 constituting, in conjunction with the rib, guides for a horizontal slide-bar65 having a depending lug 66 in the slot and having a beveled end 67 adapted to cooperate "with a tapered cavity or recess 68 in a vertically slidable lock-bolt 69 guided in an appropriate bearing 70 on plate 60 and under the influence of a downwardly pulling spring T1 fastened to pins secured to the bearing and to the lock-bolt respectively.

The inner slidable sleeve 14 on its top has a rectangular recess 72 adapted to receive the lower end of the lock-bolt as depicted in the drawing, and the outer sleeve carries a yoke 73 located in part in and adapted to slide in the slot 61 and straddling the lug 66, thus affording a direct operative connection between the outer sleeve and the lock-bolt retracting slide-bar 65.

From an understanding of this construction, it will be seen that when the elements 45 and 49 reach their correct position in the end portion of the tube, the slot or recess 72 will be in register with the lower end of the vertically-slidable lock-bolt 69, which at and previous to this time has been held elevated by the end of slide-bar 65 occupying the recess 68.

As soon as sleeve 13 and its die move to the right to permit the latter to act on the tube, yoke 73 withdraws the bar 65 from the cavity 68 permitting the lock-bolt to descend under the action of spring 71 and to enter the notch 72 thus temporarily locking sleeve 14 and plunger 45 against movement as the external die during its continued travel carries out the neck forming operation.

After the tube has been thus necked, it is, of course, necessary for sleeve 13 and its die 18 to move rearwardly sufliciently to cause the wedge bar 65 to lift the lock-bolt 69 out of the recess 72 before the inner sleeve 14 and its elements can be retracted.

While in this patent application one embodiment only of the invention has been depicted and described in detail, those skilled in this art will readily understand that it is susceptible of a variety of embodiments and is therefore not limited and restricted to the precise and exact structural details presented and that many minor mechanical changes may be made in the appliance shown without departure from the substance and essence of the invention and without the sacrifice of any of its substantial benefits and advantages.

I claim:

1. In a necking machine of the character described, the combination of a plunger of external size corresponding to the internal caliber of the neck to be formed, an expansible and contractible die adapted to be expanded to a size corresponding to the internal original caliber of the body to be necked adjacent to the neck, means to insert said plunger and die in and withdraw them from the body to be necked, meansto expand and contract said die, a cup-shaped die adapted to slide over the end portion of the body to be necked over said plunger and to contract such portion of the body between itself and the plunger to provide the neck, and means to reciprocate said cup-shaped, die, such reciprocation being the only movement of the die during the neck-forming operation.

'2. In a necking machine of the character described, the combination. of a plunger of external size corresponding to the internal caliber of the neck to be formed, an expansible and contractible die mounted on said plunger and adapted to be expanded to a size corresponding to the internal original caliber of the body to be necked adjacent to the neck, the outer edge of said die being bevelled to facilitate its introduction and that of the plunger into said body, means to insert said plunger and die in and withdraw them from the body to be necked, means to expand and contract said die, a cup-shaped die adapted to slide over the end portion of the body to be necked over said plunger and to contract such portion of the body between itself and the plunger to provide the neck, and means to reciprocate said cup-shaped die, such reciprocation being the only movement of the die during the neck forming operation.

In a necking machine of the character described, the combination of a plunger of external size corresponding to the internal caliber of the neck to be formed, an expansible and contractible die adapted to be expanded to a size corresponding to the original internal caliber of the body to be necked adjacent to the neck, means to insert said plunger and die in and withdraw them from the body to be necked, means to lock said plunger and die against longitudinal movement in said body, means to operate said lock, means to expand and contract said die, a cup-shaped die adapted to slide over the end portion of the body to be necked over said plunger and to contract such portion of the body between itself and the plunger to provide the neck, and means to reciprocate said cup-shaped die.

4. In a necking machine of the character described, the combination of a plunger of external size corresponding to the internal caliber of the neck to be formed, an expansible and contractible die mounted on said plunger and adapted to be expanded to a size correspondin to the original internal caliber of the body to be necked adjacent to the neck, the outer edge of said die being bevelled to facilitate its introduction an that otthe plunger into the end of said body, means to insert said plunger and die andvvithdravv them from the body to be necked, means to lock said plunger against shaft, a lock adapted to cooperate with said notch to holdsaid shaft against movement, a plunger on said shaft of external'size corresponding to the internal caliber of the tractible die adapted to be expanded to a size corresponding to the original internal caliber of the bodywto be necked adjacent to the neck, means to expand and contract said neck to be formed, an expansihle and: con- 1 die, a second shaft, a die on said second f shaft adapted to slide over the end portion of the body to/be necked over said plunger and to contract such portion of the body between itself and the plunger toprovide the neck, meansto reciprocate said second shaft and its die, and means operated. in unison Wlth said second shaft to actuate said lock.

JULIUS asTooKI 

